Paris 2024 Olympics medals will contain pieces of the Eiffel Tower

The medals awarded during the Paris 2024 Olympics will contain pieces of the Eiffel Tower. In fact, the medals for the upcoming Olympic Games, to be held in the French capital from July 26 to Aug. 11, 2024, were unveiled today. To celebrate the return of the Games to France, it was decided to include, in each medal destined for those who will reach the podium at both the Olympics and the Paralympics, an original piece of the Eiffel Tower. To create this meeting between the most prestigious object of the Games and the iconic monument of France and Paris, Paris 2024 collaborated on the design of the medal with Chaumet, an LVMH Group company that is a Premium Partner of the Paris 2024 Games.

The idea is that winning a medal at the Olympics changes an athlete’s career. Every athlete dreams of an Olympic medal, for the medal at the Paris 2024 Games it was decided to involve athletes in this dream. Thus, the Paris 2024 Athletes Commission , chaired by Martin Fourcade, was involved in the search for an idea that would symbolize the identity of the upcoming Games. The choice was almost natural: to associate the iconic monument of France and Paris, the Eiffel Tower, with the most prestigious object of the Games, the medal.

So in each Olympic and Paralympic medal will be embedded a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower. Built between 1887 and 1889, the “Dame de fer,” as it is called in France, has since undergone renovation programs. Some metal elements have been permanently removed and preserved in the process. For the Paris 2024 Games, the Eiffel Tower Management Company will allow these authentic pieces of Parisian and French history to regain their glory.

The Paris 2024 organizing committee asked Chaumet, a leading jewelry house, to come up with the design of its medals. Renowned worldwide for its craftsmanship, Chaumet transformed the medal into a true jewel, with a design conceived around three sources of inspiration: the hexagon, luminosity and setting.

The original iron of the Eiffel Tower is shaped like a hexagon, the geometric form of France. This symbol is meant to recall the entire nation’s commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Stripped of the “Eiffel Tower brown” paint, the iron returns to its original color. Placed in the center and embossed with the coat of arms of the Paris 2024 Games, this piece of French heritage matches the gold, silver and bronze medals.

On the same side of the medal, thin lines project outward at regular intervals around the iron hexagon. Embossed rather than etched, these lines lend relief and brilliance to a medal that is anything but smooth. This creative concept is meant to embody both the splendor of France and the brilliance of the athletes’ performances at the Games.

Uniting these two icons (the Eiffel Tower and the Games medal) required equally symbolic work. Through the creativity of LVMH and Chaumet, the iron is set by the presence of six metal appendages, one at each corner, used to secure the hexagon in place. This setting is possible thanks to the medal’s slightly concave shape, which adds depth to the design on each side. For Paris 2024, the distinctive “Clous de Paris” studded shape, reminiscent of the famous Eiffel Tower rivets, was chosen for the setting.

The Eiffel Tower also inspired the design of the medal ribbons. For the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the medal ribbons will be adorned with the Eiffel Tower lattice. The ribbons for the Olympic medals will be dark blue, while those for the Paralympic medals will be a deep red, a mix of the first two layers of paint (“Venice red” and “red-brown”) used on the Eiffel Tower. And as in every edition of the Games, the other side of the Olympic medal tells the story of the revival of the Games in Greece. A traditional medal presence since 2004, the goddess of victory, Athena Nike, is depicted in the foreground as she emerges from the Panathenaic Stadium that saw the rebirth of the Olympic Games in 1896. And also on the other side, the Acropolis is flanked by the Eiffel Tower. In this way the inspiration of the ancient Games in Greece, the French origins of the modern Olympic Games, and their next edition in Paris are represented.

In contrast, the other side of the Paralympic medals includes a graphic representation of the Eiffel Tower from an upward perspective. The words “Paris” and “2024” surround the foot of the tower, written in universal Braille, the symbolic language of accessibility and a reference to its French inventor, Louis Braille. To enable athletes with visual impairments to perceive the difference between the medals, dashes are engraved on the rim: I for gold, II for silver, and III for bronze.

Paris 2024 Olympics medals will contain pieces of the Eiffel Tower

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